Northern Ireland qualifier called off

22 March 2013 03:20

Friday night's World Cup qualifier between Northern Ireland and Russia in Belfast has been postponed until 3pm Saturday afternoon, with snow rendering conditions unplayable at Windsor Park.

Snow began to fall overnight and persisted throughout the day, coating the pitch in a thick covering.

Norwegian referee Tom Hagen and a team of match delegates completed a series of inspections starting from 10am but the likelihood of a game looked remote for much of the day and a decision was finally made at 2.30pm.